Finally! A finish!

I've finally had some quality time with my beloved Horizon! Who by the way this month will be getting some much needed TLC from a guy from Janome Sweden who comes to Malta for vacation and is kind enough to take a look at my love when he's here on holiday <3 Which is very lucky as no one services Janome (or any slightly computerized machine) here and he's in much need of some help.

Anyhow, I've finally finished my "Thinking of You" pillow! The pattern for it is from Kellie over at Don't Look Now and I was lucky enough to win it earlier this year. I'm the first one to admit that it was not a good idea to attempt a for me very complicated and never before tried FMQ pattern after not having sewn anything at all for months... Despite this I'm quite happy with the result, the pattern was a lot of fun but it took a lot of time to make when you're not used to this kind of work and you only get like 20 minutes of sewing time at the time with weeks in between...

However, the satisfaction when  you're done make it worth every minute and I'll absolutely make more of the pillows in the pattern when I've gathered enough scraps. =)

The eye of the bird is my very first ever french knot BTW, this was really "a pillow of firsts" for me ^^

And while I was at it with the craziness I figured I might as well face all my fears and put in my very first invisible zipper at the back. It was super easy after reading this tutorial over at Sew4Home. Despite me only having a normal zipper foot, I'm very happy with my first try and will absolutely continue to make pillow backs this way! So quick, simple and stylish!

And when I tried to take a picture of it in its place on the couch, of course Diana had to jump in between, start rolling around to get attention and be in the photo too ^^

It feels GREAT to be back to sewing! Now however I'll be entertaining guests for 10 days, Andreas sister,  husband and 3 kids are staying with us so I'm guessing there won't be much sewing done, but you never know. =)

Miss Model of the World (Malta)

Ok, so I'll be honest, the contest I was telling you about in the last post that's been taking up all my time was Miss Model of the World (Malta). I model a little to and from for fun and when I was invited to take part in this once in a lifetime opportunity I of course couldn't say no! =) I was contemplating for a long time weather or not to blog about this but in the end I decided to do it, I just hope no one will think less of me for it.

It is hosted by Vouge Model Management Malta and it's a major event. We spent weeks preparing for this one night and it's been taking up all of my quilting time. However, luckily it was worth the time invested, with 18 other gorgeous finalist girls competing with me, I didn't think I had a chance to end up even in the top 7, but imagine my surprise when it turns out I came second place and on top of that was awarded the award "Most Promising Female Model"!

Here's some photos from the event, it will be aired on TV in a few weeks.

The three winners, me on the left in lilac ^^

Opening number

The amazing dancers

Bikini event

Don't remember anything of this walk, I was so nervous I just blanked...

Evening gown event

Hairshow

Waiting for the results

The winning males

Other then that I've also been travelling lately, both to Amsterdam to meet up with some friends and we also attended two of our moderators wedding in Colchester, England, it was great - but we where sick the entire trip, so not fun!

I hope that now things will go back to normal (know I've said that before so please keep your fingers crossed for me - I so badly want to sew!), I've got a big box of secrets here at home from Moda that needs me to cut into it's loveliness and have me start baking.  =)

I'm still alive!

I just wanted to pop in and let you all know I'm still alive! 

I've just got so much going on right now, the release of our new game OviPets, running our "old" game PonyIsland, I what free time I have has been spent preparing for a big contest here in Malta (rehearsals every day now) and diving with my friends to make use of these last few days of warm ocean before winter. So this is what I've been up to lately (my poor Horizon is so neglected).

Me, my fiance and our friends going on a boat dive to Gozo:

Crocodile rock with Azure window in the background, had a lovely dive here. 

Beautiful Moray Eel who got more then a little upset with me for trying to get a good photo of him ^^

It's me! ^^

Andreas relaxing.

This Painted Comber was very sure of his camo.

Boating with friends

We're engaging in some acrobatic play in the crystal clear waters of the blue lagoon.

Hopefully things will slow down in a week or two, but I don't dare to make any promises this time XD

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I've also received a picture of a beautiful folded star I just had to show you all, it's made by Cindy Murphy and it's just gorgeous!

Warm & White VS Warm & Natural Batting

Since my progress is really slow as of late I thought I'd show you something that is quite important when choosing batting and something I wish I'd known when making my first quilts. Maybe I'm the only one who didn't know this but I figured  if I could save one person from making my mistake, it'd be a good thing =)

I use the Warm Company's batting because I love the way fabric clings to it, it's 100% cotton, easy to work with, not too heavy and can be quilted so far apart (10"). Warm & Natural, which also is the batting I used for my first quilts (which I now regret but back then I didn't know any better) versus the Warm & White batting which is the only one I use nowadays really except for when making trapunto as that's when I use up my leftover Warm & Natural. =)

The Warm & Natural is a fantastic batting, please don't get me wrong but I didn't know that it "gives an antique look" which is somthing I really  don't want for my quilts. So my first quilts I made now have a yellowish tint to all the white parts that I don't like... :(

Anyhow, so I thought I'd show you the difference between the Warm & White and the Warm & Natural as it shows on the back of my pillow, and this is "fresh" (don't have a better word for it) Warm & Natural, I have other pieces which have become much, much more yellow:

So I guess what I'm saying is, if you don't want the "antique" look, make sure you choose Warm & White =)

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Fancy Folded Star - Machine Wash Me! ^^

On another note, some people have expressed worry about using their Fancy Folded Star Potholders in the kitchen, I just wanted to assure you that they can be machine washed without any loss of shape as long as they have been properly sewn down like I showed in the tutorial. 

I made this set 2008, like you can see from the photos date info and the extremely nice binding (please note the sarcasm), this is when it was newly made ^^

And here it is today in all it's currently very dirty state (which will be fixed by a machine wash today ^^) as I still use it. Please note that enlarging the photo below is done "at your own risk" as I dug it out from the laundry basket for this photo, which Diana uses as her personal daybed, hence all the cat hair, I don't have all that hair in my kitchen I promise =)

It's a Fancy Folded Star! =)

Got an email today fromElaine over at Dashasel Sews who's made her own, absolutely gorgeous version of the Fancy Folded Star! I think it's made with Joel Dewberry's beautiful Aviary 2. Thank you so very much for sharing this beauty with me Elaine! =)

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I've also finally decided on the fabrics for my Thinking Of You pillow, and this is the final layout, it's all ironed down. Now all I need to do is brush up my FMQ skills a little and get down to business when I have some spare time =) I can't wait, feels like I haven't quilted anything ages.

Thinking of you...

I really do dearest readers and I feel bad when nothing has been happening on the blog for so long. However, it's hopefully only going to get better from here as our beta testing of OviPets is going great. =)

I'm really happy to have shared the Fancy Folded Star tutorial with you all to show you I'm not completely out of the loop and I'm absolutely blown away by the fantastic response it's received on Moda Bakeshop! Thank you all for your heartwarming comments, I couldn't be happier and I just hope that you all dare to try making this super fun project!

While on the topic of "Thinking Of You", I've also started working on one of the beautiful patterns I won from Kellie a while back named the very same thing, it's moving slowly but at least it's moving =)

Moda Bakeshop: Fancy Folded Star - Pot Holder

I'm really happy to be sharing my third Moda Bakeshop tutorial with you all, it's so much fun to make them and get to share them with so many people. =) However, this tutorial is no longer available on Moda Bakeshop due to the wordpress crash, but it's  available for free download in the "files" section of my Facebook group.

Please take a look at the tutorial for this little project here: Tutorial at Moda Bakeshop

I'd be really happy if you do decide to check it out, if you'd leave a little comment over there to let me know what you think. And if you do decide to make one or three, I'd be so happy if you dropped me an email with a photo of the finished thing so I can feature it here on the blog =)

I hope you'll enjoy making folded stars as much as I do! They're so versatile and can be used as everything from tiny ornaments to big pillow covers. They're so much fun to make, initially the tutorial might look a bit intimidating, but it's really not difficult.

And this is also what my little preview was of a few weeks back ^^

What I've been working on for so long =)

I was thinking that maybe a few of you could be curious about what I've been working on lately that has been keeping me from all crafty stuff and other less important things - like sleep - lately =)

It's a brand new game finally ready for reveal, introducing:

Me and my fiance are web game developers and this particular new game is super cute and fun if you ask me! It's made for Facebook and it is, to quote my own clever description from the front page:

An exciting new pet game focused on genetics and breeding! In OviPets, you and your friends will be able to research new species, splice eggs with new mutations which can then be passed on to their offspring along with their colors and other genetic traits, and raise and care for pets in all the colors of the rainbow. What will you research?

Aren't the Draconis cute?! I just love this breed! Our artist is just fantastic!

It's tied with the Felines as my favorite I think...

If you where to check it out OviPets  now though - please keep in mind that it's still in beta (meaning not completely finished) and only made for the newest browsers out there, so update your browser to the latest version (IE 9, Firefox 6 etc.) before paying us a visit.

While this game is a little like quilting in the sense that you get to play with colors and how they combine, and you can add and remove genes such as wings/tails/manes etc, upload your own patterns on the pets in the shape of tattoos and such I bet most of you are wondering when in heavens name this blog is going to go back to showing off some crafty stuff and hopefully giving some inspiration, the answer is: Any day now ^^

You'll find out what my little preview from a while back is from in a few days I promise, and it's a new tutorial to boot =) And after that I'm hoping to have our new game under control and have some time to quilt and craft again.

A blush version of Summer Squares

I got an email today from Krista who has made her own version of Summer Squares, it's just lovely and made with  Blush by Basic Grey. The little bird is just adorable! 

The photo below is borrowed from her blog with her permission.

So much fun that you choose to make my pattern Krista and thank you for letting me show off your adorable quilt! =D

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I also thought I'd show you what's been attached to my desk for a few weeks while getting nowhere... I started on this sami bracelet in July I think to go with my summer clothes and let's just say I haven't gotten anywhere since then. So I figured if I show it off here, I have to finish it soon (if I just get a few hours of no work it should be done depending on how much decorations I decide to go with) and maybe I could get some input. 

What do you think? Silver or Pink background? Or maybe no background? Should I attach some twirled pewter or maybe some simple braids to the sides? Or leave it alone? 

Any input is much appreciated, I'm leaning towards pink background and a twirl on each side... =)

In case you want to make your own, it's the same macramé technique used as for the bracelet in my tutorial here but with four strands. Just be careful to keep them flat and don't let them spin around each other as you go. 

Small stash report

Since it's still all work and no play here over at our house I figured I should sneak myself another 5 minute break and pat some fabrics. And what fabrics could possibly work better as a quick fabric pick me up then the neon bright pile above?

Bought these fabrics while in Sweden and they are completely insane color wise I know. But when I saw the black fabric with the neon flowers (it's part of Barb Sackel's Ibiza Collection) on I knew I just had to have it and something to match it with - for no other reason then that it made me so happy to look at.

To me, those are some of the best fabric purchases. I mean, that's one of the main reasons I quilt, I just LOVE fabric!